Mobile communication systems continue to grow in popularity and have become an integral part of both personal and business communications. Various mobile devices now incorporate Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) features such as calendars, address books, task lists, calculators, memo and writing programs, media players, games, etc. These multi-function devices usually allow electronic mail (email) messages to be sent and received wirelessly, as well as access the internet via a cellular network and/or a wireless local area network (WLAN), for example.
Mobile communication devices are required to meet certain operational standards for the respective frequency bands over which they communicate. For example, UMTS cellular devices are typically required to meet inner loop power control (ILPC) requirements. ILPC in the uplink is the ability of the mobile transmitter to adjust its output power in accordance with one or more transmit power control (TPC) commands received in the downlink. The mobile transmitter may be required to change its output power with various step sizes (e.g., 1 dB, 2 dB and 3 dB) while remaining within a certain power control range.